Thief Emperor

Chapter 1018 Clearly aware of everything
In the back hall of Taiji Hall, His Majesty the Emperor was sitting on a soft couch. He had taken off his court crown and cumbersome court robes, which were then put away by the palace servants.

A Privy Councilor and a Minister of War were both sitting in front of him, each looking through the intelligence on Liaodong that had just been sent back by the Nine Departments.

After both of them had looked at each other, Zhao Cheng hesitated to speak, but still looked at Su Sheng.

If we say that more than a decade ago, the status of the two men in the Jiangdong army could be described as equal, now the status of the military has been settled, and Su Sheng is undoubtedly the number one in the military of the new dynasty.

At this time, Zhao Cheng would not come forward again.

General Su also understood what Zhao Cheng meant. He looked up at Li Yun, thought carefully, and said, "Your Majesty, I have dealt with the Khitans for a long time."

"At that time, I was in Hebei Province, and I was able to deal with the Fanyang Army with ease, but I was still a little overwhelmed when facing the Khitans. These Khitans are extremely skilled in riding and shooting, and can also attack and harass with light cavalry, so they are difficult to deal with."

"General Meng, it is already quite rare to be able to fight like this."

Emperor Li patted the armrest of the couch and said in a deep voice: "The problem now is not how well he fought, and I didn't say what big mistake he made. The problem is how to deal with Yuguan."

He looked at Su and Zhao and frowned, saying, "The old Yu Pass is no longer usable. If we want to build a pass there, it will take at least two to three years, including recruiting civilians. But at this time, there are Khitans both inside and outside the pass, not to mention whether the Khitans will give us time to build a new Yu Pass."

"Even if they don't build it, Meng Qing's main force will just stand there and could be attacked from the front and back at any time."

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at the two people in front of him and asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Su Sheng frowned and said nothing.

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and finally said, "Your Majesty, it is impossible to repair Yuguan Pass now. We have to wait until the Youyan war is completely over and General Meng's troops are no longer attacked from all sides. Only then can we start repairing Yuguan Pass. If we don't think about clearing the battlefield at this time, but rely on a dead object."

"I believe that Youyan's current achievements may all be wasted."

Emperor Li did not speak, but just looked at him quietly.

Zhao Cheng said solemnly: "We must completely eliminate the enemies in Yuguan, no matter how much it costs!"

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes and said, "They are still occupying Youzhou City, and now they are taking military supplies back. If we forcefully take Youzhou, I'm afraid we will suffer huge casualties."

Zhao Cheng said without hesitation: "Then we will besiege the city."

"After besieging them for a year or so, how come the Khitans finally came out?"

Su Sheng frowned and said, "There are still civilians in Youzhou City. If we surround them tightly, I'm afraid these Khitans will eat people in the city."

"Besides, there should be about 20,000 Khitans inside the pass. If we count some stragglers, there may be more than 20,000."

"If there are ten of them, then surround them. There are risks involved if you surround them."

Emperor Li's eyes fell on the map of Liaodong.

Su Sheng flipped through the documents and said, "Your Majesty, the Khitans mean that as long as General Meng is willing to open the Yingzhou Pass and allow the 20,000 people inside the pass to withdraw, they are willing to give up the interior and return to Liaodong."

Li Yun sneered: "The interior of the pass is not theirs to begin with, so why are they pretending to be so?"

His Majesty the Emperor knocked on the table and continued, "These 20,000 Khitans are definitely the elite among the Khitans, and can be said to be their main force. If we kill these 20,000 people, the Khitans will not be able to recover in ten or twenty years."

When they attacked Youzhou, there were only tens of thousands of Khitans.

They seized Youyan from the Fanyang Army and occupied Youyan for almost ten years. The size of the army did expand, but in fact, the real elite and main force were still the tens of thousands of elite cavalry.

These are the real essence of the Khitan tribe. If we let them go back to Liaodong, it would be like letting a tiger return to the mountains. They may come back at any time.

"What's already in our pocket."

Emperor Li had a serious expression and set the tone: "We must not let him go just like that. Even if we have to wait for ten or twenty years in Youyan, or even if I personally lead an expedition to Youzhou, we can't spit out what's in our mouths!"

His Majesty the Emperor said viciously: "Before I close my eyes, I don't believe that I can't crush these Khitans to death!"

If certain similar time and space in the two worlds overlap, the Khitans at this time should be on the eve of their rise.

To be precise, their rise began when they occupied Youyan.

It was only because a man named Li Er suddenly appeared in the south and forcibly stopped this historical process.

Even so, the Khitans still had strong vitality. Li Yun had been fighting in Youyan for more than a year, but up to now, he had only gained the upper hand and was winning, but he had not been able to directly kill the Khitans in Youyan.

They are still very tenacious.

Zhao Cheng, the Minister of War, thought for a long time, then suddenly clasped his fists and said through gritted teeth: "Your Majesty, I ask to leave the capital and lead the Taiyuan Army!"

"Cooperate with General Meng and together we will contain the Khitans and destroy them in Youyan!"

Li Yun frowned and looked at him.

Minister Zhao took a deep breath, looked up at Li Yun, and his voice trembled a little.

"Your Majesty, it has been nearly ten years. My hair has turned gray."

He pointed at his hair and said, "I don't know if I will have another chance to lead the army and make up for my mistakes."

Compared to Su Sheng, Zhao Cheng was still young. When he first met Li Yun, he was only in his twenties, only six or seven years older than Li Yun. But even so, more than ten or twenty years later, he was already forty-five or forty-six years old.

There are indeed some white hairs on his head, but they are just a little bit and cannot be seen without careful observation.

For so many years, he has been serving as the Minister of War in the imperial court. Although he holds a high position of power, the past events of Jiannan Road have always bothered him.

This is the biggest stain in his military career.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him silently, then looked at Su Sheng.

The Privy Councilor Su Sheng thought for a moment and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, Youyan may indeed need another commander to prevent Yuguan from being attacked from both sides."

"We can even use Yuguan as bait to lure the Khitans to attack."

Emperor Li looked at him and asked, "Could it be that Luo Zhen and Gong Sun He can't do this?"

Zhao Cheng stood up, knelt before the emperor, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, please grant me your blessing."

Emperor Li stood up, walked in front of him, helped the Minister of War and the Crown Prince's Guard up, and sighed: "It's been ten years. Maybe you are the only one who still remembers the things in Jiannan Road."

Minister Zhao bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not forget this."

Li Yun was silent for a moment, then asked, "When you went to Youyan, did you cooperate with Meng Qing, or did Meng Qing cooperate with you?"

Zhao Cheng’s status was too high. For a long period of time, he was Meng Qing’s superior. Now that he went to Youyan, it became difficult to distinguish the primary from the secondary.

Zhao Cheng bowed his head without hesitation and said: "I am on the battlefield, I will cooperate with General Meng!"

Li Yun rubbed his temple.

"Let me think about it. Let me think about it."

Zhao Cheng bowed deeply to the emperor.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty."

…………

On the other side, at the residence of Prime Minister Zhuo.

Even though the head of all officials came to visit in person, Zhuo Guangrui still had no way of turning him away, so he met the newly promoted Prince's Tutor in his study.

In the study, Zhuo Xianggong looked at Du Qian and sighed, "Why did Xiang Du come here at this time?"

"I don't know how many people will see me on this trip."

Du Qian shook his head slightly: "I'm not afraid of them seeing me. As a human being, you should always have a clear conscience."

He looked at Zhuo Guangrui and continued, "Your Majesty, please keep Brother Zhuo in the capital. Brother Zhuo will surely be revived one day in the future."

Zhuo Guangrui shook his head and said, "I no longer think about this."

Du Qian lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then looked at Zhuo Guangrui and asked, "Brother Zhuo, was the matter of the red seal and iron certificate discussed with His Majesty in advance?"

Zhuo Guangrui's face suddenly changed, and he shook his head slightly and said, "The laws of the country are strict, how can we discuss it in advance?"

"I was ready to die, but my son acted on his own and caused this farce today."

At this point, Zhuo Guangrui sighed: "After he made a scene, those families holding the red book and iron certificate may become more lenient in the future. This is all the fault of our Zhuo family."

Du Qian smiled when he heard this.

"This thing may be useful to some people, but not necessarily to others. Brother Zhuo, don't take it to heart. If they commit evil, His Majesty will not show mercy."

Having said that, he looked at Zhuo Guangrui, hesitated for a moment, and still asked the question he was most concerned about in a low voice.

"Brother Zhuo, do you think His Majesty knows that the Du family is involved in this matter?"

Zhuo Guangrui thought about it and shook his head: "I don't know..."

Minister Du was silent for a while, then he sighed and said, "I think Your Majesty knows, but Your Majesty is pretending not to know."

Prime Minister Zhuo looked at him and asked, "What do you think, Prime Minister Du?"

"I have read all the files of this imperial examination case."

Mr. Du looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said silently: "No one's confession implicates my third brother."

he murmured.

"Not a word."

(End of this chapter)